Crazy Cock

by Henry Miller

Struggling as a writer amid the bohemianism of 1920s Greenwich Village, well-born Tony Bring must suddenly deal with the knowledge that his beloved wife Hildred, has taken her female friend, Vanya, as a lover

Genres: Fiction, Literature, Erotica, Classics, Novels, American, Collections

202 pages, Hardcover

First published October 9, 1991

About the author

Henry Valentine Miller was an American novelist, short story writer and essayist. He broke with existing literary forms and developed a new type of semi-autobiographical novel that blended character study, social criticism, philosophical reflection, stream of consciousness, explicit language, sex, surrealist free association, and mysticism. His most characteristic works of this kind are Tropic of Cancer, Black Spring, Tropic of Capricorn, and the trilogy The Rosy Crucifixion, which are based on his experiences in New York City and Paris (all of which were banned in the United States until 1961). He also wrote travel memoirs and literary criticism, and painted watercolors.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

So nothing is ever going to compare with Tropic of Cancer. I'll just have to get over that. Henry Miller still writes better at his worst than, say, Dan Brown does at his best. The language of the book really shows that he had something to say but had yet to find the voice to express it in - like he was still trying to conform to what a novel "should" read like. I'm not going to scrap it because HM has enough charisma to make me read anything.
Final verdict: it's okay as a slice of 1920s bohemia (New York that is) but you can tell Miller is dying to escape to France and begin his real writing career.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read Miller because I can...Hey Joe, guess what time it is...It's Miller Time. So douche out your cunts and trim up that puss bush. It's fucking Miller Time!

[Mimi Wolske · Rating 3 out of 5]

I forgot I didn't care all that much for Henry Miller's autobiographical novel that described his rage over his second wife's live-in lesbian lover.

Why? Because Tony Bring, who is the author, calls himself in the book a writer bewildered by his independent wife, Hildred, and the sordid world of Greenwich Village in the 1920s, he depicts Tony as a sensitive soul in a rotten world but Tony is really a misogynistic bully.

Tony's bourgeois upbringing and inclinations are shaken when Hildred (the morbid enchantress who was modeled after his unbalanced wife, June Mansfield Smith) announces that her dear friend Vanya (painter-poet Vanya (based on Jean Kronski), with an invented past as the bastard Romanoff princess, and men’s clothes), is coming to live with them.

As Tony learns the truth—that Hildred and Vanya are indeed lovers—the tale descends into their sexual souls. Hildred comes across as a pseudo-bohemian and her lover, Vanya, cuts a pathetic figure.

So, here the three of them are, in a world swirling with violence, sex, and passion, they struggle with their desires, and inching ever nearer to insanity, each unable to break away from the dangerous and consuming love triangle. This was the raw, human part of the novel that I loved...so very Miller.

I found it excessively sentimental...mawkish. Then there was his anti-Semitic remarks, his overheated, hand-me-down surrealism, his purple prose, and his self-conscious decadence prefiguring the adolescent egomania you can find in so much of Miller's works later in his life.

But, hey...this is only my opinion.

[Zac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the other comments on this book seem pretty on point. Covers material that feature in his later works but in a sort of transitional style (The gold guard, rosewood neck of modern American literature...) Flashes of the later Miller brilliance are there, but the 3rd person narrative is laborious in comparison to the brilliantly serpentine 1st person used in the "tropic" books. The last 3 or 4 pages (post hemorrhoids :-) ) are purely epic, as wonderful, manic and perverse as anything he ever wrote.

[Elbereth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is awesome. I think the thing to enjoy about Henry Miller is that he's full of crap, but a fantastic writer. I enjoy his writings much more than Hemmingway (gag me) even if according to Signore Miller he's had sex with every woman he's laid eyes on.

Not for the timid...but realize this is considered (along with Tropic of Cancer/Capricorn) to be a cornerstone of modern literature. His books were banned initially because of all the booty and obscene language.

[jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's no secret that Henry wrote this one early. Almost a first attempt at novel writing i hear. It is all subject and raw emotion, a portrait of love as well as a portrait of envy. Not the perfect novel, but a great look into the life of an artist in love with a woman who is in love with a woman.

[Evad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Henry Miller is a sad pathetic man. I want to slap the main character of this novel, who no doubt he based on himself and his own marital problems, but despite the deep annoyance I felt one thing remains immaculately clear: This man is a master of the human language. He has such an ability to describe that you have to surrender to his whiny, annoying, cuckolding characters.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was into Henry Miller novels for a while. This story is post break up to his wife June Smith, when Henry moves from New York to Paris. It is an account of his anguish over June's affair with another woman. The book is definitely Miller dealing with the break up and has been said to be his springboard in finding his writing style. The next book he wrote was Tropic of Cancer.

[Makis Dionis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ο μεθυστικός κ ανυπέρβλητος λόγος του Μιλλερ.

Τα μάτια των λέξεων ήταν κιθάρες και φορούσαν μαύρες κορδέλες, και τους έβαζε τρελά καπέλα και κάτω από την ποδιά τους καρεκλοποδαρα και πάνες. Κ έβαζε τις λέξεις του να συνουσιάζονται ώστε να φέρουν στο φως αυτοκρατορίες, σκαραβαίους, αγιασμένα νερά, τις ψείρες των ονείρων και να ονειρεύονται πληγές.

[Jill Condon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 3 Star Book worthy of a 4th for introducing me to the original big titty goth gf

[Em Chainey (Bookowski) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Henry Millerin ikinci karısı olan June Smith, lezbiyen sevgilisiyle 1927'de Avrupa'ya kaçtığında, yazar çok uzun süren bir ruhsal çöküntü yaşar. Beş parasız ve aşağılanmış bir durumda baba evine döner, umutsuz ve huzursuzdur. Bir gün daktilonun başına oturur ve hiç ara vermeden yazmaya başlar. Bu yazılar daha sonra, Henry Miller 'in üçüncü romanı olan Çılgın Üçlü'ye dönüşecektir. Romanlarının konusunu her zaman kendi yaşamından alan Miller , bu romanında da ikinci karısıyla olan fırtınalı evliliğini ve June'un lezbiyen arkadaşıyla olan ilişkisini yansıtmıştır. Gizemli, şaşırtıcı, soluk kesici güzellikteki June, Henry'yi bir anda çarpmıştı; yazar Çılgın Üçlü'de, June'un yansıması olan kadın Hildred'i şöyle tanımlar: "İkiyüzlülükten oluşan, gerçek bir bal peteği". Hildred, lezbiyen arkadaşı Vayna ve yazar Tony Bring'in oluşturduğu üçlünün, üç üyesi de doğuştan dengesizdir: Vanya ruhsal tedavi görmüştür, June deliliğin sınırlarında gezinmektedir, ikisi de uyuşturucu kullanırlar, Tony ise deli olup olmadığını gerçekten merak etmektedir. Çılgın Üçlü, Miller 'in çektiği acıların bir derlemesi olduğu için oldukça etkileyici; bu roman, boyun eğmeyle başkaldırı, özlemle nefret arasına incecik bir çizgi çekiyor ve yirminci yüzyılın en anlaşılmaz, en karmaşık erkeklerinden birinin görmezden gelinemeyecek sanatsal başarısını simgeliyor.

Yorumum: Ben bu kitabı yıllar evvel okumuştum. oldukça bohem ve karmaşık bir kitaptı. Henry Miller ne hissetiğini tamamen yansıttığı için bir nevi yazarın kitab kendini yansıtması şeklinde okunabilir. Henry Miller edebiyatını seven ve kaleminden haz alıp da o zamanlar ne hissettiğini öğrenmek isteyenler için iyi bir kaynak olacaktır.

[Melissa Lee-Tammeus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yep, I read a book called Crazy Cock. It's been on my shelf forever and I finally decided I needed to see what the big scandal was for myself. What I truly enjoyed was the foreword by Erica Jong and the explanation given regarding Miller's psychological demise when his wife ran off with a lesbian. This book was the result of that betrayal and, knowing that, you can certainly understand the anger and venom as he writes about a main character's own issue with a wife who has a lesbian lover. Write what you know, they always say. I can imagine this was a true scandal at the time and the fact that it was not well received is not a surprise. Even today, the shock value is exciting. They all pass one another around sexually and have grand parties together supplemented by incredibly heated arguments and shouting matches. I would love to see a film of this done in modern times. I believe it would make for incredible cinema. I feel cultured today, to be sure.

[Splashconception · Rating 2 out of 5]

this is one of henry miller's first works so he is still struggling with the surrealistic flourishes of language and delusions of linguistic granduer that characterizes his later work. This novel feels a little stale at times, or perhaps over dramatic. Interesting if you are a Henry Miller fan but certainly not one of his best works.

[Staci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, Miller! It's all about his writing. It could be a tale of nothing, and I would still read it!!! (This book at times feels like that). I love his writing style and this early look at what was the predecessor to Tropic of Cancer is a treat.

[Maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Getting to know Mr. Miller, Hmmmm, haven't made up my mind, need to read "Tropic of Cancer", I like his ex- patriot ways and his views in America Vs. Europe (Paris) and what is socially acceptable by way of artist's and their habits.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

will remind you of your most fucked up relationships! :)

[Mimiorphee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crazy Cock has become a classical, and I wonder how come I hadn't read it before. Published in 1991, it's Miller's second to last published book.
The prose is poetically pitch black, the tone sarcastic and heart-wrenching. We are far from the romanticized threesomes or open relationships. Miller's love hurts, shows its ugliness, it rips you apart. The heroine's narcissistic behavior is palpable. She evoked the meanest feelings in mean, as I could only pity her husband. The pull and power she had over was as strong as her cruelty.
Crazy Cock will appeal to readers who want a break from sugar-coated books /romances. Its psychological approach proved difficult to read, but the author's captivating words had me devoring sentence.

[Kurt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost gave up on this one. Three sections in, 73 pages, and Miller was starting to bore me – yes, Henry Miller, and yes, bore me. Written in 1927, Crazy Cock – originally, Lovely Lesbians – was, in the estimation of Mary Dearborn's introduction (not nearly as generous as Erica Jong's foreword), Miller's third “apprentice work.” Though penned before he became the infamous, transgressive and forever inimitable Henry V Miller, with or without the V, Crazy Cock was not published until 1991. It had actually disappeared until 1960. That V, by the way, stands for Valentine, not vagina. Had it been otherwise, as anyone who barhopped, bedded or bullshitted alongside this loquacious, sexually irreverent Old Dog knows, the middle initial would most certainly have not been V – but C. That, however, is another story. And one which, following my latest literary obsession's mentorship, would probably only serve to get me banned from Goodreads. For good.

Crazy Cock is a semi-fictionalized confession (along with pseudonyms to protect the insane, the crotch puppets, muses, bohemians, hemorrhoidal authors) relating Miller's second wife June Mansfield Smith's love affair with Jean Kronski. An “unbalanced” (Christ, were any of them actually balanced?), wannabe artist from Greenwich Village. After the 3 moved in together, a begrudging triangulation on Miller's behalf, June and Jean eventually abandon Henry and sail off to Paris. This betrayal provoked Miller's complete breakdown. The breakdown also instigated this book. And as literary history proves, was also the single, miraculous, though less-than-virgin event that spawned the artist/mystic/poet – the Henry Miller who, after breaking camp for the City of Lights himself, would return later to challenge parochial North American censorship values. Still jackbooting along in the latter half of the 20th century.

Like some carnal John the Baptist, Henry Valentine Miller was a rough voice in the wilderness of 1960s Mary Poppins reality. Almost single-handedly, he reimagined our sexual consciousness with his magnetic personality, his prose that brought literature even into the glossy, airbrushed realm of Playboy magazine. That Disneyland for mechanics, milkmen and accountants – not to mention, rebellious teens at that time. Those Brylcreem, Export A puffing boys who'd sneak it into bed at night just to... ah... read the Miller articles.

Long story short. Three stars. Because only from the 4th section on does this reader finally hear The Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn and Black Spring genius priming up his voice for its subsequent, yet unsurprising, banning in England and America. And that's the vilified author anyone with more than a politically diluted shrug towards literature dares to love. The Old Dog whose single line preface to this “apprentice work” of his simply states – “Good-bye to the novel, sanity, and good health. Hello angels!”

[Ametista · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ho gli occhi estasiati dalla lenta danza nera di Crazy Cock.
La scrittura di Miller non si può centellinare, è un calice colmo da svuotare dun'un colpo, è un fluido che riscalda le viscere. Tra le parole c'è un Miller a molti sconosciuto, un uomo profondamente tradito, costretto per l'amore che prova a dividere la propria donna con un'altra.
Cosa c'era dietro quel muro di carne e di ossa? Poteva mai sperare di sapere cosa stava succedendo là? Poniamo che in un attimo di profonda contrizione gli dicesse: "Ti dirò tutto."
Anche allora non avrebbe mai saputo. Avrebbe saputo solo quello che lei voleva che lui sapesse, e nulla più.
Cosi ossessionato era ormai dal pensiero della propria impotenza che alla fine chiuse gli occhi e si abbandonò a una sfrenata fantasticheria di violenza gratuita e perversa. Come un freddo e minuzioso vivisezionista, immaginò di chinarsi con il bisturi sopra di lei, scortecciandole la carne dal cervello, segando l'osso con mano ferma per mettere a nudo le molli e grigie circonvoluzioni, la delicata e invitante matassa di mistero che nessuno riusciva a districare.
Gli sfuggi una risata fredda e malinconica: la risata che si ascolta nei momenti di solitudine. La risata in cui potrebbe scoppiare un cane se lo ammaestrassero a capire le facezie umane.
Si ripeté formule vuote dalle raccolte di facezie dei bramini. Tutto dell'universo potevano spiegare, compreso Dio Onnipotente, ma se stessi no.

[Phyllis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Foreword by Erica Jong and the Introduction by Mary V. Dearborn I found just as interesting as the book itself. Henry Miller actually mentored Erica Jong in the 1970s, and she spoke about that experience in the Foreword. I want to read Miller's other books now because this one was supposed to be "a dry run" of his classics and his writing is supposed to have "matured"; I would like to see what those two concepts look like in the next books. Crazy Cock is an autobiographical account of Miller's married life to Jean. Miller was not a productive writer, and his wife supported both him and her female lover. I think he may have been an alcoholic and his wife, from what I can tell from this book, was most likely a borderline personality or bipolar, suffering from very severe mental illness that today could be helped with medicine. Her "work" involved scams, cons, and various ways of prostituting herself; much of that behavior goes along with mental illness. I really felt for their suffering and also for the loss that we readers incurred because Miller was unable to finish so many of his writing projects and ideas. Recommended to writers and also to readers who enjoy gritty memoirs.

[Mariana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para quem já leu Trópico de Câncer e de Capricórnio, ou mesmo Tempo dos Assassinos, esse livro parece ser uma obra de menor porte. Mas creio que esta seja uma impressão errônea. Crazy Cock é um livro do início da carreira da Miller e mostra com clareza o percurso de um autor descobrindo a própria linguagem. Diferente dos outros, este é escrito na terceira pessoa, com linguagem menos fluida e muito adjetivada.
No caso específico de Miller, que teve o primeiro livro publicado apenas com 40 anos e uma vida bastante conturbada/intensa, a procura pela linguagem, por escrever aquilo que se sabe e se vive, fica evidente no conjunto da obra. Somente por isso já é um livro que vale ser lido, mas para além, também é possível encontrar trechos sublimes, que causam abalos de que poucos autores são capazes.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first foray into Henry Miller, and frankly it was difficult to get through. The writing style was convoluted, liberal with grotesque descriptions. I appreciate the author for his innovation and influence but at the same time felt it hard to care about the turmoils of the characters, who to me were so hopeless, self-delusional, and masochistic.

Not quite ready to give up on Henry Miller yet, I'm about to read Tropic of Cancer and shall see if I "get it."

[Carlito Rodarte · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crazy Cock by Henry Miller had nuggets of descent description. This was a crude piece of work that needed to be refined. The book was in dyer need of an editor. Since Crazy Cock was published after Miller's time, it was left with minimal changes in order to preserve what he was going through while living with his wife and her lover(pure madness). I rate this book a 2.5. I would have rated it higher had I read it while living in Bohemia NYC in the 60's.

[Designated Hysteric · Rating 2 out of 5]

Crazy Cock is Miller's diffident attempt to delineate his experience of being cucked by a woman, a work of struggle for and against narrative convention, desperately desiring to be a traditional novel that is nevertheless laden with surrealist phantasms. But Crazy Cock is utterly repulsive not for any other reason but for it is a grievous sin - Miller writing in the third person. Please, flee from early Miller with all your spirit.

[Empress · Rating 3 out of 5]

centaurs, feathered sea cows, two-spirits, mud, rainbows, blood, wombs, chicleteras, lesbians, a drunk, madness, despair, loss, love?, hate?, death, Art and blue lunar leprachauns. (*would give three and a half- but it ain't an option_)

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miller’s writing here isn’t as wildly prosaic- or as obscene- as the novels that made him famous, but reading this early text is an excellent glimpse into his development, like seeing the first sparks of greatness in what would be a long, illustrious career.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crazy and at times disjointed first novel by Henry Miller. I love his language but sometimes it swallows me up and I can't really understand the plot.

[michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only for hardcore Miller fans who want to see his beginnings as a writer. This book was of course a failure and no one was really supposed to read it.

[Rebecca W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this years ago, but since reading, I've declared Henry Miller my favorite author. Now that I'm set to read Tropic of Capricorn, I can't wait to see if the accolades still stand!

[Christopher · Rating 2 out of 5]

A hard choice between 2 and 3 stars, which I wouldn't have to make if a half star system existed here. But it doesn't, and this site is free, so, okay.